Rum Cake: From Scratch Taste without Baking from Scratch

By Dylan Deleto

Rum cake is one of my family's favorite desserts for the holiday. Everyone loves it and many have begged for my recipe, which I happily share. One of my wife's friends actually wanted to market my cake. However, I am not in the commercial baking business and so I passed on the idea. When I originally started baking rum cakes, I baked them completely from scratch. To save time, soon I came up with a way to prepare my rum cake in only about 10 minutes using store purchased baking mix, without sacrificing any of the magic of my cake.

My secret is start with a box of cake mix as a base. I always use Duncan Hines. I guess you could use any box mix. I stick to either the Yellow Butter Recipe or the French Vanilla mix. I recommend that you try both. The texture of the cake is slightly different depending on the mix. The yellow cake mix makes a more traditional version but the french vanilla is really good too.

I tend to make of a number of variations of the cake by adding or omitting nuts and/or pineapples. The main version of the cake includes pineapples with nuts on the bottom. I am really the only in family who likes the nuts so I typically leave them out. When I do add nuts, I prefer black walnuts. Sometimes, I use different flavored rums as well: spice rum, vanilla rum, banana rum, etc. The rum sauce is optional after the cake is done. I don't think it is a rum cake without the sauce soaked into the cake.

The beauty of my recipe is that the cake tastes really great and can be prepared in about 10 minutes. Then it requires about 1 hour to bake in the oven.

The aroma of the cake leads people into the kitchen and you will have to fight them off to avoid cutting the cake before it cools. It tastes really good once the rum sauce soaks in. The only problem with the cake is that you will probably end up baking 2 or 3.

Now that you can't wait to taste this great holiday treat. I will be happy to give it to you for free. Just join my site, Building Leaders of Tomorrow and then send a private message to RumCake, a user on the site, after which you can have the recipe in your hands within minutes. If you hurry, you can get it before the new year. - 29884

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Home Ice Cream Makers - What's The Best Ice Cream Maker For Home Made Ice Cream

By Freddy McCandless

Long ago, it used to be a treat to go out for ice cream. Then ice cream could be purchased in supermarkets and people would take it home to eat as a treat. Then all sorts of companies like Ben & Jerry's start unleashing quirky (and some would say downright dangerous) varieties onto the market.

Well it's come a full circle now and people can make their own home made ice cream. They can even get books of recipes for famous varieties from ice cream luminaries like Ben and Jerry. If making ice cream at home sounds like a fun thing to do then check out what kind of ice cream makers are available and how they work. This article will review the main types of ice cream makers and give you a better idea of what you need to make ice cream.

There are really 3 kinds of ice cream maker. The old fashioned maker is slightly more complicated than the more modern types because everything was pretty much done manually.

The concept of making ice cream is to freeze a cream mixture whilst aerating it or allowing air to pass through the mixture. The aerating process ensures that the ice crystals are not to big and the ice cream has a soft and consistent texture. This process of aerating and freezing the mixture concurrently is perform by placing it in a cold environment and passing a paddle through it.

The older machines (and retro inspired machines of today) use a manually churning process. This is simply a handle that allows the ice cream maker (person) to turn the paddle in a vat or bowl where the mixture resides.

The vat or bowl where the mixture reside is enclosed with a coolant. This, more often than not, needs to be added by the maker every time they want to make some ice cream. Hand churning is a great way to make ice cream but it is probably far more hard work than using a modern machine.

The more contemporary machines use an electric motor to perform the churning. This is obviously an easier way to make ice cream but requires electricity to work. Of the modern machines there are two systems that cool the ice cream (or freeze it to be more precise).

The first uses what is referred to as a double insulated bowl, meaning that it has an inner and outer surface with coolant liquid in between. This coolant has to be frozen solid before you can start to make the ice cream. The biggest problem with this system is that the coolant needs to be frozen and this can take many hours (approximately 8 hours for most machines). And if you only have one bowl then you have to refreeze it each time you want to make a new batch. However these types of ice cream makers are generally far cheaper than the other type.

The other type have a dedicated refrigeration unit or freezer in the machine. This gives you the ability to make delicious ice cream from the off in no more than 30 minutes. This kind of machines are more suited to large enterprises like ice cream shops or even restaurants, but some also exist for the home. Obviously the complexity of these machines means they are the most expensive and generally reserved for professional use. - 29884

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Halloween Candy - It's Not Only For Kids!

By Sean J. Patrick

Yes, of course, when you think about Halloween, you think of little kids dressing in costumes and going door to door to gather bags of Halloween candy. And with some more days till 'dress up time' - you better start thinking about what you are going to give to those children ( yes, the giant youngsters too ) and if you're going to buy bulk candy for that party of yours. We have everything you might ever need to give the children - no matter if they're nine or ninety!

Gum - a candy custom that everybody loves! But we've put a twist on it!

With such a big amount of different tastes, consistencies, colors and sizes, who can resist this chewing sensation? From Adam's sour apple gum ( don't you just love that name? ) to a Guitar Key Chain with bubble gum picks (yes, we are serious - cool huh?) and everything in the middle, who can resist these tasty flavors that burst in your mouth? Our Halloween candy is a sure fire hit for your vacation festivities!

Buy in bulk!

When you would like to satisfy each single person on your list and all those small ones who will arrive on your doorstep, ordering bulk candy is the smartest way to buy. With such a large amount of different taste buds and everybody having their own preference, bulk candy puts a grin on everyone's face! There's candy coated, soft candy, hard candy, chocolate candy ( do not even get me started with the different types of chocolate ), licorice candy and every type of Halloween candy you can think of! Many of those types come in assortments so you have a wide selection of flavors and colours. And do not forget the chocolate rocks! Yes, you heard right - chocolate rocks!

Halloween candy is fun! ( Yes, for adults too )

Naturally, what would Halloween be without the normal candy corn? This Halloween candy puts a grin on your face, reminding you of this time of year and the colours of autumn. Don't forget to add those to your list as well as our Monster undead candy, Halloween Pez candy and Trick or Treat Mix! We have so many more that it would probably take forever to list them. Just come on over and read around. We promise you that regardless of what age you are our Halloween candy will put a smile on your face! - 29884

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Sugar Cookies: Make Your Family Happy With These Treats

By Jack Markson

Sugar cookies have been a favorite of children and adults for years. The simplicity of taste and ease of making them enables them to be made even by those who are not expert cooks. Sugar cookies are also very versatile. They can be made round or in different shapes. They can be sprinkled with plain or colored sugar. They can be decorated with colored icings and decorated with chocolate chips and candied fruits. No matter how you serve them everyone will want more.

Sugar cookies have been made for quite a long time. The modern recipe was invented by immigrants coming from the Dutch lands to America and eventually called Pennsylvania Dutch. The recipe was very popular and soon it was known all over the world. Pennsylvania adopted the cookie as the state cookie in 2001.

Some say that the sugar cookie started way before that. They surmise that around the 7th century someone decided to make small cakes that were made in order to test the temperature of the oven. They did not want these cakes to go to waste so they sold them as small cakes which were made from sugar. In France small sugar cakes were called gimblettes and in Italy they were called cimbellines.

On variety of sugar cookie is fluffy and light and they become quite tall while in the oven baking. There is a bit of crunch to the edge but the middles are soft and sweet. Another variety is made where the cookie is a little harder and crisp. Both are wonderfully sweet and tasty.

In many recipes you roll the dough flat and use cookie cutters to cut it into different shapes. These type are favorites for many different holidays. They can be made into hearts on St. Valentines Day. They can be cut out in bunny or egg shape for Easter. Pumpkins can be cut out for Halloween. Cut out turkey cookies to celebrate Thanksgiving. The most popular are made a Christmas in various shapes including Christmas trees and Santa.

The following Soft Sugar Cookie recipe is made with confectioners' sugar instead of granulated sugar. They come out soft and fluffy. Do not try to use cookie cutters with this recipe because the cookie is to soft to make them that way.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a mixing bowl cream one half pound softened butter then add one cup confectioners' sugar gradually. Add one egg, one teaspoon vanilla and mix well. In another bowl combine two cups flour and one half teaspoon baking soda. Mix well and start adding gradually to the mixture containing the egg. Once it has all been incorporated scoop out teaspoonful and shape into a one inch ball. Place two inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Take a fork and press each ball flat. Bake for about six minutes and remove from oven and let sit for five minutes. Remove cookies to a cooling rack. You can sprinkle each cookie with a little bit of granulated sugar before putting them into the oven if you would like. This makes about 5 dozen cookies.

The next recipe is a sugar cookie that is rolled flat and cut with cookie cutters. Using a large bowl take 1 and one half cups flour and sift it with two teaspoons of baking powder and 1 half teaspoon salt and place aside for later. In a bowl for the electric mixer place one cup butter and gradually add 1 and one half cups of granulated sugar. Beat until the mixture gets light and fluffy. In a small bowl beat 2 eggs. Add to the mixer with 1 tablespoon of milk and one teaspoon of vanilla. Slowly add 1 and a half additional flour until incorporated. The dough should not be stiff, but smooth so if it starts to stiffen stop adding the flour. Roll the entire bowl of dough into a ball and place it in wax paper to be placed in the refrigerator for a whole hour. Take out of the refrigerator and roll to about one fourth of an inch thick and use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Sprinkle them with sugar or leave them alone to be decorated with colored icing after cooking. Put the shapes on non stick sprayed cookie sheets and bake in a 400 degree F oven for about 10 minutes or until the edges become lightly brown. Leave them on the cookie sheets for about 2 minutes then remove to a cooling rack.

Make sugar cookies a treat for your family. They will love finding them in the cookie jar. You can make them for holidays in different holiday shapes or enjoy them any time. - 29884

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